MS-13 ‘Maryland man’ seeks to have ‘vindictive’ prosecution charges tossed

Further politicization of the left’s “Maryland man” found the purported MS-13-affiliated Salvadoran national deploying a tactic known to “rarely succeed” in aiming to have charges dropped.

Since he was deported in March, Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been propped up by Democratic elected officials and corporate media talking heads as a victim of President Donald Trump’s sweeping effort to restore America’s national sovereignty. Now, after the illegal alien, allegedly involved in smuggling people and firearms, has been returned to the U.S. to face those charges, his defense has filed a motion to dismiss the criminal case, claiming “selective or vindictive prosecution.”

Filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, where the case has been brought against Abrego Garcia following a 2022 traffic stop in which he was pulled over en route to Maryland with 10 people in the vehicle, attorneys painted the defendant as a target of the administration and maintained that he should not have been deported to begin with.

“Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been singled out by the United States government. It is obvious why. And it is not because of the seriousness of his alleged conduct. Nor is it because he poses some unique threat to this country,” read the motion in part. “Instead, Mr. Abrego was charged because he refused to acquiesce in the government’s violation of his due process rights.”

NEW: Kilmar Abrego Garcia files motion to dismiss his criminal charges in Tennessee based on selective and vindictive prosecution

“This case results from the government’s concerted effort to punish him for having the audacity to fight back, rather than accept a brutal… pic.twitter.com/3JVpqQbplp

— Anna Bower (@AnnaBower) August 19, 2025

“Rather than fix its mistake and return Mr. Abrego to the United States, the government fought back at every level of the federal court system,” the filing argued. “And at every level, Mr. Abrego won. This case results from the government’s concerted effort to punish him for having the audacity to fight back, rather than accept a brutal injustice.”

The Salvadoran’s attorneys went on to call out the Trump administration, alleging, “A group of the most senior officials in the United States sought vengeance: they began a public campaign to punish Mr. Abrego for daring to fight back, culminating in the criminal investigation that led to the charges in this case.”

Tuesday’s motion came after the Obama-appointed U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis issued an emergency ruling in late July prohibiting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from taking Abrego Garcia into custody for 72 hours after his release in Nashville, Tennessee, contending little had been done to assure “due process rights will be protected.”

Xinis had previously unloaded on Justice Department attorneys in April when she told them, “Cancel vacation, cancel other appointments. I’m usually pretty good about that in my courtroom, but not this time. It won’t be a convenience issue,” as she ordered two weeks of discovery and depositions while seeking to have Abrego Garcia brought back to the United States from prison in El Salvador.

The Associated Press reported that acting U.S. Attorney Robert E. McGuire indicated via email that the prosecution’s only comment on the motion filed by the defense would be its own filing in response.